Sudan's war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has displaced 12 million people inside and outside the country by July 2025, according to the Migration Policy Institute, as the conflict enters its 1,000th day.

The fighting began on April 15, 2023, in Khartoum and spread nationwide. Two rival military factions that had once been allies now drive what the United Nations calls the world's largest displacement crisis.

How many people has the war displaced?

MPI estimates 12 million people have been forced from their homes, including 7.7 million internally displaced persons. More than half of those internally displaced are children. About 4.1 million have left Sudan entirely.

Of those abroad, roughly 3.2 million are Sudanese nationals. Another 800,000 are refugees from other countries who returned to their place of origin or relocated elsewhere.

The UN Refugee Agency records repeated displacement. As of March 2025, people displaced within Sudan came primarily from Khartoum (31 percent), South Darfur (18 percent), and North Darfur (16 percent).

Which countries are absorbing Sudanese refugees?

Neighboring states carry most of the load. A joint humanitarian report puts the cross-border total at 3.7 million Sudanese in countries such as South Sudan and Chad. Egypt hosts an estimated 1.5 million Sudanese nationals.

Longer journeys are rising. The European Union Agency for Asylum recorded around 2,100 asylum applications from Sudanese nationals in September 2025, up 147 percent year-on-year. In Greece alone, Sudanese applications for international protection climbed 366 percent in the 12 months to September 2025.

What is the health and food situation?

The war has gutted Sudan's health system. The World Health Organization says more than a third of health facilities are non-functional. Outbreaks of cholera, dengue, and malaria compound the toll.

WHO Representative in Sudan Dr Shible Sahbani said: "One thousand days of conflict in Sudan have driven the health system to the brink of collapse. Under the strain of disease, hunger, and a lack of access to basic services, people face a devastating situation."

Food insecurity is acute. A joint report by humanitarian organizations estimates nearly 9 million people live in or on the brink of famine. About 21 million face acute food insecurity, and more than 20 million need health assistance.

Why has the crisis drawn so little global attention?

MPI and aid agencies cite competing global crises, distance from conflict zones, and what observers describe as historical biases that marginalize African conflicts. UN humanitarian funding appeals for Sudan remain heavily underfunded, Oxfam reports.

Oxfam's Africa Director Fati N'Zi-Hassane warned of broader consequences: "Turning a blind eye to this crisis would not only be a profound political and moral failure, but a failure of our core humanity."

MPI estimates 150,000 lives had been lost by June 2024, a year after fighting began. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has documented the psychological strain on displaced Sudanese, many of whom face secondary or tertiary displacement after fleeing across borders.